European shares pare losses as geopolitical jitters ease; L'Oreal shines
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Tehran signals no retaliation against Israel after drones attack Iran
Royal Unibrew, Sodexo gain on hiking forecasts
Schneider Electric confirms Bentley Systems talks
Updates with closing prices
By Ankika Biswas, Ozan Ergenay and Johann M Cherian
April 19 (Reuters) -European stocks closed lower on Friday, but off their over one-month intraday low, as anxiety around escalating Middle East tensions seemed to ease, while French cosmetic giant L'Oreal logged its best day since early January afterrobust results.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 .STOXX closed0.1% lower, but notching its biggest weekly decline of1.2% since mid-January owing to renewed focus on geopolitical tensions that steered investors away from risky assets and a rout in technology stocks.
Explosions echoed over an Iranian city in what sources described as an Israeli attack, butTehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
"The Israeli retaliation was less severe than had been feared and so far it appears that Iran has taken the more limited response as a signal that the rhetoric needs to be dialled down and both sides step back," said Stuart Cole, chief economist at Equiti Capital.
"But the market will remain cautious as nothing can be taken for granted."
As for major earnings, L'Oreal OREP.PAjumped 5% after beating expectations with a strong rise infirst-quarter sales.
Schneider Electric SCHN.PAdropped 3.2% as the French companyis in talks with U.S. engineering software producer Bentley Systems BSY.O over a potential "strategic transaction".
Royal Unibrew A/S RBREW.CO jumped18.1% after the Danish brewer postedfirst-quarter results above expectations and raised its full-year outlook.
Warehouses De Pauw WDPP.BR climbed3.1% afterfirst-quarter results showed signs of stabilisation in its rental portfolio.
With markets gearing up for the full volley of corporate reports in the weeks to follow, first-quarter earnings are expected to have decreased 12.1% year-on-year, LSEG data showed on Tuesday.
Among others, Volvo VOLVb.ST shed4.1% after its second biggest shareholder Geely Holdingsold part of its stake in the Swedish truck maker.
The technology sector .SX8P dropped1.7%, with Switzerland's Comet Holding COTNE.S losing3.4% after first-quarter results. The sector has been the worst hit this week knocked down by chip equipment maker ASML Holding's ASML.O weaker-than-expectedfirst-quarter bookings on Wednesday.
On the flip side, the telecom sector .SXKP jumped1%, led bya 4.4% rise in Finland's Elisa ELISA.HE following first-quarter results.
On the data front, producer prices in the euro zone's largest economy Germany fell less than expected in March, dropping 2.9% year-on-year.
Providing some relief, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said euro zone inflation is likely to decline further and interest rates could be cut if its long-standing price growth criteria are met.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru and Ozan Ergenay in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Toby Chopra
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